Three alleged courier van robbers aged 30, 38 and 39 are set to appear on Thursday, 08 October 2020 before the Randfontein Magistrate Court, following their arrest on Tuesday 06 October 2020, on suspicion of being behind the spate of courier van robberies in Mohlakeng, Randfontein.
An intelligence-led operation following a robbery of a courier van earlier in the day in Toekomsrus, saw police pounce on the three suspects who were sitting in a car, a BMW, parked in a yard in Segaetsho Street in Mohlakeng. Upon searching the suspects and their vehicle, the members found three firearms with erased serial numbers, three magazines, and live ammunition.
A second vehicle, a Volkswagen Polo with a false registration plate was parked inside the garage at the same address. An on-site vehicle-processing found that the vehicle had been hijacked as per a case reported in August 2020 at Kagiso SAPS.
Preliminary investigations have since revealed that the VW Polo was used during the commission of the earlier Toekomsrus courier van robbery.
On profiling the three suspects, the members also found that one of them was on the police’s list of wanted suspects in connection with an attempted murder case of May 2018 in Krugersdorp.
The suspects have been charged with possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, and possession of a hijacked vehicle. Further investigations are underway towards establishing the suspects’ linkage to other crimes and to build a watertight case that will stand in court and result in a successful conviction.
Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has commended the success by the multi-disciplinary team comprised of the West Rand Flying Squad, the Trio task team, Randfontein Crime Prevention and Randfontein Detectives.
“The end-result of this operation is indeed pleasing as Gauteng continues to deal with high volumes of hijackings including courier van robberies where often the supects are armed with illegal firearms. Not only does this success add value to our efforts to curb the proliferation of illegal firearms, but it will also take us a long way in our determination to bring down the volumes of serious and violent crimes,” cited Lieutenant General Mawela.
